Counties / Nebraska / Cherry County

Cherry County, NE

FIPS 31031 · population 5,498 · outside every metro area

$231k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$231k
▼ 7.3% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$916
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$1,024
the Section 8 payment standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+48.1%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−7.3%FHFA HPI2025+13.1%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$152k
Surveyed gross rent$916
Rent burden 30%+33.8%
Median year built1971
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
25.8%vacant
3,009estimated housing units
Occupied tenure38.6% renter
owner 61.3%renter 38.6%
Structure mix82.2% single-family
Single-family 82.2%20+ units 2.7%Mobile home 7.3%Other 7.9%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs2,263▼ 2.6% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments290annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$856▲ 7.7% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities29.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−2.6%WEEKLY WAGE+7.7%Trade, transportation, and utilities29.2%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Cherry County presents a valuation-conflict diligence case, not a clear directional call: buyers relying on current county value evidence should investigate, and rental underwriters should remain cautious. Zillow's county median home value was $230,931 in 2026-06, down 7.31% year over year. Separately, FHFA's repeat-transaction HPI rose 13.1% in 2025 and 48.14% cumulatively under its reported multiyear measure. The index is not a dollar value, and these differently dated, differently constructed series cannot be blended; they show unresolved price direction rather than a unified appreciation measure.

02Housing economics

No county market asking rent is published, so gross yield cannot be calculated. HUD FMR is $1,024 per month, but it is a payment standard rather than evidence of asking rent and cannot fill that gap. Carrying-cost review should use the 0.99% effective property-tax rate and $1,505 median annual tax as reported, then test parcel assessments and exemptions; those county figures do not establish an individual home's taxes. Price-to-rent coverage and net operating economics therefore remain untested.

03Demand & competition

Annual QCEW covered workplace employment declined 2.58% from the prior annual average; this is county workplace employment, not resident employment or an unemployment measure. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole economy. Net migration was one household, while incoming movers' average AGI was $3,072 below outgoing movers'—a calculation from the reported averages. Investor participation was 8 of 43 purchases, or 18.6%; it indicates participation in a small observed purchase count, not buyer demand or pricing power.

04Risk & next checks

Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and modeled expected annual building-value loss is 0.16%; it should trigger property-specific flood-zone, elevation, insurance, and deductible checks rather than a countywide loss assumption. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active supply, days on market, reductions, and pending data are not published in this record, so visible supply, seller concessions, and marketing time cannot be assessed. Closed-sale comparables, market-rent and vacancy data, and property-level condition are also absent, preventing a supported resale, income, or all-in carrying-cost conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Cherry County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Valentine city2.6KKilgore village135Cody village125Merriman village117Crookston village45Wood Lake village16Nenzel village14Brownlee CDP2
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Valentine cityIncorporated place
    2,633
  2. 02
    Kilgore villageIncorporated place
    135
  3. 03
    Cody villageIncorporated place
    125
  4. 04
    Merriman villageIncorporated place
    117
  5. 05
    Crookston villageIncorporated place
    45
  6. 06
    Wood Lake villageIncorporated place
    16
  7. 07
    Nenzel villageIncorporated place
    14
  8. 08
    Brownlee CDPCensus-designated place
    2

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.158% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.99%

$1,505 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+1

122 in · 121 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$3,072

$49,705 arriving · $52,777 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors18.6%

8 of 43 mortgages

investorother financed
No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-level sales comparables may resolve the apparent county price conflict differently from the published measures.
  2. Unpublished market rent, vacancy, and operating-cost data may change income coverage materially.
  3. Flood exposure, insurance terms, and property condition may vary substantially by parcel.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can HUD FMR be used as county market rent?

No. It is a payment standard, and the record does not publish county market asking rent.

What does the FHFA HPI measure in this record?

It is a repeat-transaction appreciation index, not a dollar home value, and it should not be blended with Zillow's county value measure.

Does the record establish current MLS listing-market conditions?

No. Realtor.com listing price, inventory, days on market, reductions, and pending figures are not published in the record.